My Three Ultimate Eye Brushes

So I said in my last post that I wanted to write about what I feel passionate about again, and well these three beauties I am bloody well passionate about! I use them every. single. day. that I put eye shadow on, and they dun half help you create the most effortless smokey eye using the MAC babes Woodwinked, Omega and Satin Taupe (I've written about them before here) in about a minute- no joke!

Primark £1 Individual Lashes

 

So heres the short and snappy low down on Primarks Individual Lashes...

They're actually brilliant. You get 56 for £1 which is a complete bargain and they work just as well as more expensive brands. You get 2 rows of Mediums and 1 row each of short and long, just like other brands. I lost a few more of these lashes when putting them on than I normally would with more expensive lashes, but for the price you can't really complain. The lashes are also not the most uniform, but again for the price there is no complaints. The packaging is also a lot slinkier than some, which makes them so much easier to slip in my makeup bag.

Overall I think these lashes are completely brilliant and for the price, I don't think I will be looking anywhere else for individuals!

Have you tried these lashes?

Lots of Love,

Hev

xoxox

My First Foray into NYX

For years I have been trying to get my grubby little mits on NYX, I could never afford the shipping and I completely missed them when I was in New York; but now they have landed in Boots and I couldn't be happier.

My first purchase was the infamous Taupe Blush, a fabulous pale person contour shade. I have been using this for a while, I like the product but I hate the packaging. I have to open it with my tweezers or it pulls off whatever nail varnish I'm wearing at the time! The product inside is a cool toned, almost rosy brown, which has worked well when tasked with thinning out my fat face. I still think I prefer some of my other contours over this, it might be because I haven't found the perfect brush for the product. For the price range it sits in, it is a must for the ghostly pale!

My second trip to the NYX counter has consisted of Soft Matte Lip Cremes and a Liner. The lippies are in the colours Cannes and Stockholm. Cannes is more of a pinky brown and Stockholm is more of a orangey brown shade.

The lippies smell like marshmallows and have a nice, thick consistency. They are ridiculously easy to apply to the lips. On application, the Stockholm shade is almost like terracotta, which is quite harsh on my colouring unless I go heavy on the bronzer. I also bought a liner in the shade Nude Suede Shoes, which is an almost perfect match to Stockholm and will work well with MAC's Velvet Teddy too. The liner is soft, yet when dry does not budge!

Stockholm

The Cannes colour is more pink and easier to wear on paler skin. It has the same consistency as Stockholm and on my skin is probably the easier to wear of the two.

Cannes

So far I am very happy with these products and want to build on my NYX collection. If anyone has any suggestions feel free to leave them below!

Lots of Love,

Hev

xoxox

L'Oreal Make Up Haul

You know when you think you can just innocently walk into Boots to get some deodorant and shampoo but end up walking out with an emptier bank balance than you anticipated? Well that's how this haul began. I was left alone by the L'Oreal stand, which just happened to be on 3 for 2...

My purchases were the Lumi Magique Pure Light Primer Base, the Lumi Magique Highlighting Pen in 1 Light and the Infallible Fixing Mist. Two of these products I love, the third has been a huge disappointment.

Lets start with the good stuff shall we?

This is my first foray into the Lumi Magique range and so far I am impressed. The highlighter pen is light enough to match my NC10/15 skin with ease, whilst also doing a great job at brightening my under eye. Playing with the product on my hand now gives a very lightweight texture with some good coverage. I would say the colour verges on the salmony side, great for brightening and colour correcting the under eye. The product lasted flawlessly under my eyes on my most recent evening out for about 8 hours, pretty darn impressive. As with all highlighter pens I would not use this on my spots. This is a product I am really looking forward to continuing to play with!

The Lumi Magique Base gives such good glow *inserts picture here of my glowing like an angel has embraced me*

Having had oily skin all my life I have always steered away from products that give off a glow, but this one is lovely. The product is thin, doesn't give any colour and imparts such a beautiful almost pearly sheen underneath your foundation. The product also made my foundation sit beautifully on my face and helped prolong it's longevity, a complete win in my books!

Having saved the worst until last I will now talk about the fixing spray. I bought this because my Urban Decay Setting Spray ran out on me and I wanted to try this to see how it compared. So I bought it, set the above make up with it, following all instructions and I was left with lots and lots of tiny white powdery blobs all over my face; blobs that i had to dig my nails into to get them off. Safe to say I was not impressed. Since then I have found many other people with this problem, so L'Oreal really need to get to the bottom of this. I've even emailed them about this as I am so disappointed. I love the brand and this has put a serious dampener on them for me.

If you try any of the products please let me know how you get on with them!

Lots of Love,

Hev

xoxox

The Products You Need to Make Your Makeup Last All Night

Many times I have been on a night out, got far too drunk and woken up with a mouth like sandpaper, but my make up has been perfect. It has taken me some time to figure out the perfect products for making my make up last all night, but I've finally got there, and thought I would share them with you all too.

The first step is priming. Priming is crucial. Priming gives you a great base for make up and also gives guaranteed longevity if applied correctly. If you have very oily skin, a facial primer is brilliant. I used to swear by the Laura Mercier Oil Free Primer when I had very oily skin before the pill. A foundation that suits your skin is also a key step to longevity. I am currently using the Revlon ColorStay Makeup for Normal/Dry skin in Ivory, which is a great, long lasting yellow based pale foundation.

The eyes. I have always had to use a primer, I remember buying my first Sleek palette and it just slipped straight off my eyes because I had not discovered primer by then. When I did, it was with the Urban Decay Primer Potion, the ultimate hands down best primer I have ever used. Make up does not move with this underneath. It is a product I will never be without (so much so I have about 4 bottles in my collection). Another great primer which I tend to use before a night out is MAC's Pro Longwear Paintpot in Soft Ochre. A fabulous yellow based formula, which is creamy then dries to an almost powdery finish. This primer works best with a touch of neutral eye shadow over the top to prevent dragging.

Powder is a brilliant way to lock your make up into place. I am a powder addict and I love the feeling of having a really powdery face (I know I'm a freak). A loose powder is great for all over powdering. If you only want to set certain areas, baking is great for really locking that make up in. I use the M&S powder but I'm pretty sure it's discontinued which is really annoying as it was so cheap!

Finally, setting sprays are your best friend. They come in a variety of finishes and price ranges. I use the Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray which I find to be fabulous and helps set my make up in place like concrete.

So there you have it, my top tips and products for making your make up stick to your face like super glue!

Lots of Love,

Hev

xoxox

Gerard Cosmetics Hydra- Matte Liquid Lipstick in Cher

Gerard Cosmetics Hydra- Matte Liquid Lipstick in Cher is the aim of todays game. It is a typical me shade, which on myself is a dark, mauvy pink, quite warm, with hints of brown shade. Very 90's. It is inspired by Cher and Cher from Clueless if you couldn't guess!

This stuff is long lasting as fuck. I popped this on at 10 in the morning, at 3 soppy meals, and at 8pm it was still almost perfect. There is a residual stickiness where it does not dry completely, but it isn't horrendously annoying. If you feel the need to layer it up, then the stickiness becomes annoying. It has a really nice applicator shape, and is really easy to apply to the lips. I use a lip liner to correct where my lip line has been erased by spots first, then pop this on in a couple of easy strokes. You can get on with your day within about 30 seconds. I wish this dried down completely so then I probably wouldn't notice it's presence on my lips! After a few hours it does become quite drying, so think about applying a balm on top, which in my experience did not shift the colour.

I bought this from Beauty Bay in the UK for £9.50, and I am thoroughly impressed with the longevity. You can buy it in the UK here if you so wish! When I eventually have money again, I would love to add Serenity and 1995 to my collection!

Lots of Love,

Hev

xoxox